Terms and Conditions for the NFER Reporting Tool

1. Services to be provided

2 Copyright

3 Confidentiality

4 Security

5 Privacy

5.1 Data processing and the use of the NFER Reporting Tool

5.1.1 NFER Acting as a Data Processor

5.1.1.1 Account creation

5.1.1.2 Establishment use of the NFER Reporting Tool

5.1.2 NFER Acting as a Data Controller

5.1.2.1 Sales and marketing of NFER Assessments

5.1.2.2 NFER Research and Assessment Improvement Purposes

6 Licensing

7 Permitted use

8 Warranties

9 Products and Services purchased

10 Website materials and publications

11 Force majeure

12 Law

13 Limitation of Liability

14 Changes to Terms and Conditions and website

15 Validity

16 Definitions

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Thank you for choosing to use NFER Assessments including NFER Tests (paper) and NFER 

Online Assessments and the NFER Reporting Tool as part of your Establishment’s 

assessment approach. We are committed to providing an excellent service and to handling 

your data with the utmost care. We have outlined our Terms and Conditions of use for the 

NFER Reporting Tool within this document and request that you read these carefully. 

This document governs your Agreement with the National Foundation for Educational 

Research (NFER) or its assignees, of The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 2DQ 

and sets forth the Terms and Conditions for use of the NFER Reporting Tool to each 

participating School (“Establishment”). 

These Terms and Conditions constitute a binding Agreement between NFER and the 

Establishment, constituted under English Law, when you order and administer NFER Tests 

and/or NFER Online Assessments and use the NFER Reporting Tool.

1 Services to be provided

These Terms and Conditions cover the use of the NFER Reporting Tool. Only 

Establishments which have purchased either NFER Tests (paper) or NFER Online 

Assessments are able to access the Tool. 

Establishments who have purchased NFER Tests (paper) are given access to the Tool 

following their first order of NFER Tests. Establishments can choose to add Learners and 

User details to the Tool and use its reporting and analysis capabilities. The Tool also gives 

access to the .pdf versions of Teacher Guides for paper tests. 

The Reporting Tool is used to administer NFER’s Online Assessments and gives access to 

its reporting and analysis capabilities. 

2 Copyright

All materials, technical design, content, images and information, know-how, methodologies, 

and other intellectual property used in providing the Tests, including but not limited to the 

software design and content of the Tests, Online Assessments, NFER Reporting Tool, 

administration instructions and letters are all copyright NFER and cannot be reproduced, 

shared, re-sold or used for any purpose other than that permitted and/or licensed by a single 

purchase of that Product or Service. 

3 Confidentiality

All NFER staff, both permanent and temporary, are required to agree to conditions of service 

that include requirements to maintain the confidentiality and security of all data. On joining, 

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NFER staff are provided with our Data Security Policy and its Manual (available on request) 

and are directed towards the associated policies and procedures on the NFER intranet. All 

staff are required to sign and return a statement to HR confirming that they have read and 

will comply with them. They re-affirm this commitment annually following the update of the 

policy. They must also complete annual information security training.

4 Security

All appropriate technical and organisational measures are in place to protect data. NFER is 

ISO/IEC 27001 certified (GB17/872763) which demonstrates that we have the policies, 

practices, procedures, organisational structures, and system functions to maintain the 

confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. We also hold Cyber Essentials Plus. 

Current Certificate number can be provided on request. Data uploaded to the NFER 

Reporting Tool is encrypted at rest and in transit using HTTPS/TLS. Data in NFER Products 

are securely stored within NFER and its hosting provider. We conduct an annual penetration 

test on our IT systems to ensure that they are secure and protected from malicious attack. 

The technical and organisational security arrangements of any third parties who process 

personal data on NFER’s behalf are assessed to ensure they are appropriate.

5 Privacy

NFER takes the privacy and security of your Establishment’s data very seriously. Our 

approach to data protection is set out in the data protection statement on our website. 

Privacy notices for the sale of NFER Tests and NFER Online Assessments, and use of the 

NFER Reporting Tool, are available. 

Your agreement to these Terms and Conditions and your use of the NFER Product/s and 

Services is your explicit authorisation to the use of personal data in accordance with the 

relevant privacy notices in relation to our Products and Services. 

If at any time you wish to access, withdraw, restrict, or object to its processing, or correct 

errors in it, please see section 9 of the NFER Reporting Tool Privacy Notice. 

If you have a concern about the way personal data is processed as part of any of these 

Services, please see section 11 of the NFER Reporting Tool Privacy Notice.

5.1 Data processing and the use of the NFER Reporting Tool

5.1.1 NFER Acting as a Data Processor

The NFER Reporting Tool allows Establishments that have purchased NFER Tests or NFER 

Online Assessments to use the NFER Reporting Tool to collate Learner and Assessment 

data for the purpose of analysing test results and viewing reports and administer NFER 

Online Assessments. 

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Where Establishments use the NFER Reporting Tool for this purpose they are the Data 

Controller and are responsible for data uploaded to the Service.

5.1.1.1 Account creation

NFER uses, the name (forename and surname), role and email address of the member of 

staff receiving the delivery of paper-based tests (“User Data”) to create and administer the 

initial Establishment User account for the NFER Reporting Tool. 

The Establishment is responsible for the creation of any additional User accounts required, 

including the provision of relevant User Data. The Establishment can also suspend, delete, 

and modify User’s accounts.

5.1.1.2 Establishment use of the NFER Reporting Tool

Any data uploaded to the NFER Reporting Tool is at the discretion of the Establishment. 

The Establishment is responsible for adding Learner Data. “Learner Data” includes for each 

pupil, pupil name, date of birth, class, unique pupil number (UPN) and gender. 

Establishments can choose how much additional Learner Data (for example, free-school 

meal status, any special education provision and ethnicity which shall be considered as 

Learner Data) they upload alongside Assessment outcomes. Some of the reporting built into 

the Tool will not provide meaningful reports when this data is excluded. Establishments must 

have the appropriate permissions in place before uploading any sensitive data to the 

Reporting Tool in accordance with data protection legislation. 

In anticipation of continued use of this Service by the Establishment, data will be stored 

securely to allow progress measures to be shown. If an Establishment’s account is inactive 

for 24 months, it will be prompted to review any data uploaded to the Reporting Tool. If the 

Establishment no longer intends to use the Reporting Tool and informs NFER, its account 

will be deleted by NFER 45 days after this point in time. Retention of Learner personal data 

extracted from the Reporting Tool for research purposes is covered in section 7 of the NFER 

Reporting Tool Privacy Notice. 

When an Establishment is the Data Controller and NFER the Data Processor, the following 

apply:

• NFER will only process personal data on an Establishment’s instruction unless that 

use is subject to clause 5.1.2 or otherwise required by law to act without such 

instruction. 

• All NFER’s staff are subject to a duty of confidentiality (see section 3). 

• NFER has taken appropriate measures to ensure the security of relevant personal 

data (see section 4). 

• The Establishment provides NFER with a general authority to appoint sub-processors 

to process personal data on NFER’s behalf. If NFER engages any new subprocessors, NFER will provide reasonable notice of the new sub-contractor prior to 

their appointment. 

• All sub-processors have a written contract containing appropriate terms that are 

equivalent to the terms set out in this Agreement; 

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• NFER will provide the Establishment with reasonable assistance: 

o to respond to requests from data subjects to exercise their rights under 

applicable data protection legislation 

o to meet the Establishment’s UK GDPR obligations in relation to the security of 

processing its personal data, the notification of personal data breaches and 

carrying out data protection impact assessments. 

• NFER will make available, on request, to Establishments purchasing Assessments 

and using the NFER Reporting Tool any information that is necessary to demonstrate 

our compliance with the obligations in this Agreement. If a Establishment wants to 

conduct an audit or inspection, we are happy for this to happen provided (1) the 

Establishment gives NFER reasonable advance written notice, (2) such audit or 

inspection occurs on a normal business day during NFER’s normal working hours 

and not more than once per 12 month period, and (3) any Establishment personnel or 

representatives participating are subject to an appropriate contractual duty of 

confidentiality. NFER will also inform you, when you are the Data Controller, of any 

instructions we receive in relation to NFER’s processing of your personal data, which 

do not comply with data protection legislation.

5.1.2 NFER Acting as a Data Controller

5.1.2.1 Sales and marketing of NFER Assessments

NFER is the Data Controller in relation to personal data exchanged in relation to the sales 

and marketing of the NFER Assessments and the NFER Reporting Tool. Establishment 

contact details including contact names, email addresses and phone numbers provided by 

the Establishment will be held on a Spirit CRM and may be used to inform the Establishment 

about related NFER research projects, Products and Services for sales and marketing 

purposes. 

For the avoidance of doubt, please note that Learner Data is not exchanged when 

purchasing NFER Assessments. 

Further details are provided in the Privacy notices for the sale of NFER Tests and NFER 

Online Assessments.

5.1.2.2 NFER Research and Assessment Improvement Purposes

NFER is the Data Controller in relation to its processing of User Data and Learner Data 

extracted from the NFER Reporting Tool to allow NFER to undertake its own research and 

assessment improvement purposes as described in the NFER Reporting Tool Privacy 

Notice. 

Any User Data and Learner Data which is personal data will not be shared for the purpose of 

Establishment accountability or for commercial usage. It will never be sold. 

If you wish to opt out of sharing personal data for NFER’s research and assessment 

improvement purposes, you may opt out of future extractions by writing to NFER at: National 

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Foundation for Educational Research, Research Operations, The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, 

Berkshire, SL1 2DQ. 

If an individual, or the Establishment acting on their behalf, wishes to make a data subject 

access request, or to exercise an individual’s rights under UK data protection legislation, see 

section 9 of the NFER Reporting Tool Privacy Notice for information about how to exercise 

those rights.

6 Licensing

Subject to the payment of the applicable NFER Assessments invoice, NFER grants to the 

Establishment a non-exclusive and non-transferable licence to the NFER Reporting Tool in 

accordance with these Terms and Conditions. The licence is granted on an on-going basis 

and can be used by all Establishment employees, once registered as a User. The licence 

can be terminated at any point by the Establishment by contacting NFER. NFER can 

terminate the licence at any time by giving the Establishment 3 months’ notice or with 

immediate notice if there has been a serious breach of the terms of this Agreement.

7 Permitted use

The Establishment may use the NFER Reporting Tool only for its own internal purposes. The 

Establishment shall not use or permit a third party to use the web application or its content 

for any other purpose, including distribution or selling. 

Any research reports shared with Establishments should be used in line with the Copyright 

terms set out here.

8 Warranties

The NFER Reporting Tool cannot be tested in every possible combination and operating 

environment. The software may not operate in an uninterrupted manner on operating 

systems or browsers that do not meet the minimum technical requirement (Windows 8.1 and 

above, iOS11, IE11, Microsoft Edge and the latest versions of Google Chrome, Firefox, and 

Safari web browsers).

9 Products and Services purchased

All materials, technical information, know-how, methodologies, and other intellectual property 

used in providing the Products and Services purchased by you are all copyright NFER and 

cannot be reproduced or used for any purpose other than that permitted by a single purchase 

of that Product or Service. 

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See above for more specific copyright information. If you are in any doubt on the permitted 

use, please contact us: enquires@nfer.ac.uk

10 Website materials and publications

For usage of NFER copyright protected material (re-use, distribution, or publication etc.), 

written permission is required. You can apply for permission via the NFER enquiries team 

(details below). 

Some visual media on the Reporting Tool are licensed from third parties; others are the 

property of NFER. Any visual media that is the property of NFER may be reproduced in 

certain instances, but not without prior written approval. If you wish to copy or use logos from 

this site, you must also contact us by email at enquiries@nfer.ac.uk, or in writing to: 

Enquiries, National Foundation for Educational Research, The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, 

Berkshire, SL1 2DQ

11 Force majeure

Where there is a delay or failure to deliver Products or Services, or where damage or defect 

has occurred to Products due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, NFER shall 

not be liable. This condition does not affect your statutory rights. 

12 Law

This Agreement is governed by English law. You hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive 

jurisdiction of the English courts, notwithstanding the jurisdiction where you are based. 

13 Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions affects any rights you may have under applicable 

consumer protection laws, including your right to a refund where required by the Consumer 

Contracts Regulations. 

If you cancel your Agreement/contract with us, or if we fail to deliver the Products or Services 

within 30 days (or any other timescale we have agreed with you), our liability for that failure 

will be limited to the amount paid for the relevant Products or Services. 

Subject to the remainder of this clause, NFER's total liability to the Establishment, whether 

arising in contract, negligence or otherwise, shall not exceed the fees paid by the 

Establishment under this Agreement during the 12 months immediately before the event 

giving rise to the claim. 

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NFER will not be liable for any indirect or consequential losses, or for any loss of profit, 

revenue, business, goodwill, reputation or data. 

To the extent permitted by law, all warranties, conditions and other terms implied by law in relation to the quality, satisfactory quality or fitness for purpose of the Products and Services 

are excluded. 

The Establishment must not infringe any copyright, intellectual property rights or other legal 

rights belonging to NFER or any third party. The Establishment will indemnify NFER against 

all losses, liabilities, costs and expenses (including legal costs) incurred by NFER arising 

from any breach of this obligation. This indemnity is not subject to any limitation or exclusion 

of liability.

Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits either party's liability for:

• death or personal injury caused by negligence; 

• fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or 

• any liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited.

This clause will continue to apply after the Agreement has ended.

14 Changes to Terms and Conditions and website

NFER reserves the right to make changes to their Terms and Conditions and their website. 

On first accessing the NFER Reporting Tool you will be presented with and asked to accept 

NFER’s Terms and Conditions in force at the time. 

NFER may need to change these Terms and Conditions to reflect changes in the law or best 

practice or introduce or supplement them with specific terms that apply to how we provide 

our Products and Services. 

Should the Terms and Conditions change after you have started using the NFER Reporting 

Tool, the current version of the Terms and Conditions will be available on our website. 

Details of any changes will also be available within the Tool itself. If you do not wish to 

accept those changes, you can contact NFER at products@nfer.ac.uk

If, for any reason, any element of these Terms and Conditions is deemed invalid, void, or 

unenforceable, the validity and enforceability of any remaining condition shall not be affected.

15 Validity

By ordering our Products and using this Service, you accept the Terms and Conditions. The 

Terms and Conditions are subject to change at any time and it is your responsibility to check 

these Terms and Conditions before ordering and any updated version of the Terms that will 

be available on our website from time to time.

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16 Definitions

The following definitions apply to the Products and Services referred to in this document: 

“Agreement” means these Terms and Conditions and your acceptance of them by 

purchasing and using the NFER Products and Services 

“Assessments” and “NFER Assessments” including NFER Tests (paper) and NFER Online 

Assessments 

“Establishment” means your School or MAT 

“Learner/s” refers to your pupils 

“Products” includes NFER Tests (paper) and NFER Online Assessments 

“Service” and “Tool” refers to the NFER Reporting Tool in this Agreement 

“Terms and Conditions” means this document which details your agreement on how you are 

permitted to use the Product/s and Service/s you purchase from NFER and treatment of the 

related data

“User/s” refers to the member/s of staff registered within the Tool by the Establishment to 

administer their accoun